Before 1978 you were free to walk around inside the stone circle at Stonehenge once you’d paid your admission fee. The lack of any guards overnight meant people also hopped the fence once the site had closed.

Stonehenge at dawn. A special access ‘inner circle’ visit at sunrise.

Finally, in response to the over 800,000 annual visitors, access was restricted. An article entitled “Heritage Under Siege” in New Scientist (Sept 27th, 1979) reports the Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings as saying:

“The whole problem of Stonehenge is numbers … all through the year. What menaces Stonehenge are the millions of feet (and hands) of the ordinary visitors.”

… and continues:

“An archaeologist calculated that if each visitor walked around the central area just twice during his or her visit, the effect would be the same as having one man standing on each square foot inside the ring and jumping up and down on that spot 62 times every day throughout the year.”

After March 1978, everyone was banned from inside the circle – including archaeologists and other researchers, much to their annoyance. Department of the Environment officials said that the plans to allow out-of-hours access to “those with a special interest” had to be abandoned because the custodians were unwilling to work overtime. And so it remained for a long time.

Eventually things changed and these days it’s possible to book to go inside the stone circle on what is called a “Stone Circle Access” or “Special Access” visit. These are one-hour long slots before and after the monument is open to the public during the day, and a maximum of 30 people are allowed inside at a time.

You can book as an individual, or via a tour company who may (or may not) provide a well-informed guide to show you some of the hidden features that you might otherwise miss.

Once inside, if the light’s right you can pick out some of the hundreds of examples of carved initials and names on the stones. One of them might even be that of Christopher Wren – a local lad who made good and went on to design the new St. Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

One thing that a lot of people fail to notice is the sound of the place – there’s a definite sense of entering into an enclosed, peaceful space a soon as you come in through the primary entrance beneath the central lintel of the three on the northeast side of the circle.

It’s only when you’re up really close to the monument that the epic scale of the stones really strikes you – the tallest one is over 7m from grass to top, and there’s a further 2.5m in the ground. Weighing in at over 40 tons it’s a beautifully shaped monolith that was part of the tallest trilithon on the site. Sadly its partner upright fell and broke long ago, leaving the lintel they both supported lying on its side in the southwest part of the central area.

The bluestones, though much smaller than the sarsens, are still impressive rocks – the tallest one stands leaning in front of the highest sarsen stone and has a wide groove worked all the way down one edge. No-one knows why.

There are a few rules – no standing on the stones, no touching them, no smoking – but apart from that you’re free to wander around and properly appreciate both the enormity of the large sarsen blocks, the elegance of the bluestone pillars and the ingenuity of the builders who created the monument over 4,500 years ago.

If you have the chance, by far the best way to see Stonehenge is through a Stone Circle Access visit.

In a new study, archeologists have proposed the claim that Stonehenge and other ancient stone monuments were probably used for special moonlit ceremonies which would have taken place deep in the night. These Neolithic structures have always been thought to have been used primarily in the daytime, as the rocks at various stone monuments are meant to align with the sun, one example of which would be Stonehenge lining up in perfect fashion for the yearly Summer Solstice. (Inquisitr)

An analysis of Hendraburnick Quoit in Cornwall revealed multiple carvings visible in moonlight or low sunlight – suggesting the stone was viewed at night

Archaeologists Dr Andy Jones of the Cornwall Archaeological Unit and Thomas Goskar found a total of 105 engravings on the axe-shaped stone

Dr Jones believes many more markings would be found at sites across the country if the monuments were looked at in a different light

However, fresh evidence now shows that Stonehenge and other ancient stone

Druids celebrating the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge.

monuments were also very likely to have been used at night for moonlit ceremonies. Dr. Andy Jones, who has been studying the Hendraburnick Quoit in Cornwall, has found that at this particular site, you can see at least 10 times as many markings on the engraved panel when viewed directly under the moonlight.

Archaeologists have also discovered that at some point, people smashed up many pieces of quartz around the area which would have glowed in the dark and created a very unique effect at night. Dr. Andy Jones has been working in conjunction with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit and believes that this phenomenon is probably not limited to the Hendraburnick Quoit, but can also be found at other ancient stone monuments such as Stonehenge, as The Telegraph reported.

“I think the new marks show that this site was used at night and it is likely that other megalithic sites were as well.”

After noticing some very specific markings on the stones that had never been seen before, Dr. Jones explained that the archaeological team then went out at night to photograph the ancient stone monument and discovered even more art which was only truly visible at night and beneath the moon.

“We were aware there were some cup and ring marks on the rocks but we were there on a sunny afternoon and noticed it was casting shadows on others which nobody had seen before. When we went out to some imaging at night, when the camera flashed we suddenly saw more and more art, which suggested that it was meant to be seen at night and in the moonlight.”

With the ancient quartz that is smashed all around the site, this would have created an eerily surreal atmosphere at night next to these ancient Neolithic stone monuments and would have lent magic to whatever nighttime ceremonies were performed at these locations. It is known that Stonehenge also has unusual markings which can only be seen at night, and archaeologists believe that many other stone monuments do as well.

“Then when you think about the quartz smashed around, which would have caused flashes and luminescence, suddenly you see that these images would have emerged out of the dark. Stonehenge does have markings, and I think that many more would be found at sites across the country if people were to look at them in different light.”

At the Hendraburnick Quoit in Cornwall, there had originally been 13 markings detected on the stone, but Dr. Andy Jones and his colleague Thomas Goskar discovered that there were actually 105 markings here when viewed under different light. Archaeologists now believe that it is extremely likely that nighttime ceremonies were conducted at ancient stone sites like this as the night was associated with the supernatural. Individuals involved in these ceremonies may have smashed the stones to release very special luminescent properties from them, which would explain the many pieces of quartz that have been found at ancient stone monuments like this.

“After the ritual, the broken pieces, once they had fallen on the ground, could have effectively formed a wider platform or arc which would have continued to glisten around it in the moonlight, and thereby added to the aura of the site.”

While Stonehenge and other ancient stone monuments are usually only studied by day, archaeologists will now be trying to discover what may have taken place during these special ceremonies that would have been conducted at night by way of moonlight.

The memory technique that unlocks the secrets of Stonehenge, Easter Island and ancient monuments the world over. Lynne Kelly has discovered that a powerful technique used by the ancients can unlock the secrets of the Neolithic stone circles of Britain and Europe

Without writing, indigenous elders memorised a vast amount of factual information on which survival depended both physically and culturally: knowledge of thousands of animals and plants, astronomical charts, vast navigation networks, genealogies, geography and geology … the list goes on and on. How did they remember so much? And why does this explain the purpose of ancient monuments including Stonehenge, Easter Island and the Nasca Lines? Can we use these memory methods in contemporary life?

This lecture will focus on the transmission of scientific and practical knowledge among small-scale oral cultures across the world, drawing on Australian Aboriginal, Native American, African and Pacific cultures. Dr Kelly will explain the exact mechanisms used and why this explains the purpose of many enigmatic monuments around the world. We have a great deal to learn from the extraordinary mnemonic skills of indigenous cultures.

Dr Lynne Kelly is a science writer and Honorary Research Associate at Latrobe University, Australia. Her most recent books are Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies: orality, memory and the transmission of culture (Cambridge University Press) and The Memory Code (Atlantic Books).

Wednesday 22nd February, University of Nottingham:Indigenous memory and Stonehenge – yes, there is a link,Workshop and public lecture. Click here to book

The Memory CodeThe Allen & Unwin description:

Lynne Kelly has discovered that a powerful memory technique used by the ancients can unlock the secrets of the Neolithic stone circles of Britain and Europe, the ancient Pueblo buildings in New Mexico and other prehistoric stone monuments across the world. We can still use the memory code today to train our own memories.

In the past, the elders had encyclopaedic memories. They could name all the animals and plants across the landscape, and the stars in the sky too. Yet most of us struggle to memorise more than a short poem.

Using traditional Aboriginal Australian songlines as the key, Lynne Kelly has identified the powerful memory technique used by indigenous people around the world. She has discovered that this ancient memory technique is the secret behind the great stone monuments like Stonehenge, which have for so long puzzled archaeologists.

The stone circles across Britain and northern Europe, the elaborate stone houses of New Mexico, the huge animal shapes at Nasca in Peru, and the statues of Easter Island all serve as the most effective memory system ever invented by humans. They allowed people in non-literate cultures to memorise the vast amounts of practical information they needed to survive.

In her fascinating book The Memory Code, Lynne Kelly shows us how we can use this ancient technique to train our memories today.

Praise for The Memory Code:

As we rediscover the extraordinary endurance of the oral memories of people who do not depend on writing, and as we begin to rediscover that many of those memories include knowledge of distant times, Lynne Kelly has explored how vast, non-written memory systems can work. She explores the notion that memories were or are encoded in spaces that can be marked by natural or build elements and applies that exploration to some of the remarkable physical monuments of the last ten thousand years. She takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the past and around the world and into the minds of people who would not need to publish a book like this. They already knew it. An engaging and exciting read.Iain Davidson, Emeritus Professor, University of New England

Dr Kelly has developed an intriguing and highly original account of the purpose of Stonehenge, Avebury and other stone monuments. The depth and breath of her research, and experimental experience she has brought to study, command respect and invite serious attention.Dr Rosamund Cleal, Museum Curator, Alexander Keillor

English Heritage will once again welcome people to Stonehenge to celebrate the Winter Solstice. Sunrise is just after 8am on Tuesday 22nd December and visitors will be able to access the monument as soon as it is light enough to do so safely.

Why 22nd December?

Many people – not least diary manufacturers – believe that the Winter Solstice always falls on 21st December. But the celebration of Winter Solstice at Stonehenge is not fixed to a specifiic date – this is because of a mismatch between the calendar year and the solar year.

Please be aware that parking is very limited. There is a thirty minute walk, depending on where you are parked, in low light or darkness, from the parking areas to the monument. You are therefore strongly advised to bring a torch with you for personal use.

Accessibility – parking provision for people with disabilities

A limited number of permits will be avaialable for blue badge disabled parking and there will be dedicated accessible transport to the stone circle – which will begin just prior to the opening of the monument field. Please apply to Sandra.Ross@english-heritage.org.uk

Please note that there are no other amenities or facilities available to visitors until such time as commences.

WHY transport more than 80 two- tonne megaliths over 156 miles of mountain, river and sea to build a stone circle at Stonehenge? It hasremained one of Britain’s most enduring mysteries. Some have claimed the iconic site on Salisbury Plain was an ancient observatory for lunar and solar events. Others claimed it was a burial site for the high-born while Arthurian legend has it Merlin transported the stones. But now a Welshman from Pembrokeshire, the place where many believe the stones originate, claims he has the answer. Professor Geoffrey Wainwright, an honorary fellow of Lampeter and Cardiff Universities, released findings yesterday to support a theory that Stonehenge was a “prehistoric Lourdes”. The findings suggesting its significance as a healing centre for pilgrims were made in a historic dig at the World Heritage Site earlier this year. The first excavation of Stonehenge for more than 40 years uncovered fragments of stone which experts believe could have been used as lucky charms. Professor Wainwright believes that Stonehenge was a centre of healing to which the sick and injured travelled from far and wide, to be healed “by the powers of the bluestones”. He noted during the dig that “an abnormal number” of the bodies found in tombs near Stonehenge displayed signs of serious physical injury and disease. And analysis of teeth recovered from graves show that around half of the corpses were from people who were not native to the Stonehenge area. Archaeology expert Professor Wainwright, chairman of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and Professor Tim Darvill of Bournemouth University, have been working together for years to find out why Stonehenge was built. English Heritage agreed to the dig on Salisbury Plain, the first since 1964, following consent by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The academics said they could now pinpoint the date at which the blue stones – which the archaeologists believe hold the key to Stonehenge – were brought to the site in Wiltshire from West Wales, as 2300BC, 300 years later than previously thought. The stones were once believed to have come from a crag in the Preseli Hills called Carn Menyn. But a newer theory is that they were brought from glacial deposits much nearer the site, which had been carried down from the northern side of the Preselis to southern England by the Irish Sea Glacier. The professors also told a press conference at the Society of Antiquaries in London that people remained interested in the magical, healing qualities of the stones for many hundreds of years after Stonehenge was built. Prof Darvill said: “It could have been a temple at the same time as it was a healing centre, just as Lourdes is a religious centre.” Prof Darvill suggested the blue stones, which have tiny white spots, could have acted in a similar way to the bones of saints. They argued that as thousands of pilgrims flocked to see them at Stonehenge the resulting wealth enabled an “elaborate shell” of more stone pillars to be built. Prof Wainwright said he was inspired to investigate the area in his native Pembrokeshire while watching a television programme about why Stonehenge was built. He said: “I thought the answer really had to be found in the place where the stones came from. That is in north Pembrokeshire, so Tim and I went and did a survey around the crag. “We found various reasons which led us to believe the stones were used as part of a belief in a healing process.” But he said they needed to study the Stonehenge site to find out when the bluestones arrived there and how long they were used. The radiocarbon dating of the original double bluestone circle held significance for the start of Stonehenge being used as a healing centre. The date – 2300BC – links the introduction of the bluestones with a time of great activity at the site, including the death of the Amesbury archer. His remains were discovered about five miles from Stonehenge and the professors believe he was a pilgrim hoping to benefit from the healing powers of the monument. Prof Wainwright said: “We now know, much to our surprise and delight, that Stonehenge was not just a prehistoric monument, it was a Roman and medi- aeval monument.” Were the huge stones transported all the way from West Wales? The stone pillars of Stonehenge are natural columns of white spotted dolerite and occur only in the Preseli Hills’ Carn Menyn area. They were first identified as of Welsh origin by Dr John HH Thomas in 1923. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a “band of brothers” found near Stonehenge and scientists have proved they were Welsh, suggesting it was people from Pembrokeshire who actually transported them. The skeletons, three adults, a teenager and three children, were found by workmen laying a pipe on Boscombe Down and chemical analysis of their teeth revealed they were brought up in the South West Wales area. Experts believed the family accompanied the stones on their epic journey from the Preseli Hills to Salisbury Plain. As an extension of the theory that Stonehenge was a healing centre, on digs around the country, archaeologists will now look for any evidence of bluestone being transported from Wales to other monuments. Professors Wainwright and Darvill also said they hope to return to the Preseli Hills next year to excavate part of a burial mound near the main bluestone outcrops. Prof Darvill said of the bluestones: “Their meaning and importance to prehistoric people was sufficiently powerful to warrant the investment of time, effort and resources to move the bluestones from the Preseli Hills of Wales to the Wessex downs.”#

From the grassy deserted plains of southern England rises a circle of standing stones, some of them up to 24 feet tall. For centuries they have towered over visitors, offering tantalizing hints about their prehistoric past. For centuries, everyone who has stood before them has wondered the same thing: Who built this mysterious rock monument? And why? “Since Stonehenge was built and rebuilt over a period of centuries, no one group has sole credit for its construction, but the main building seems to have been done by a people known as the ‘Beaker Folk,’” says Benjamin Hudson, professor of History and Medieval Studies at Penn State. The Beaker Folk (who earned their name from the distinctive inverted bell-shaped pottery drinking vessels they made) scattered throughout prehistoric western Europe. The earliest construction at Stonehenge began about 3000 B.C., says Hudson, with a stone circle inside a ditch and bank. Within that circle lay a timber building; researchers have excavated from the site about 56 pits containing the remains of human cremations. Construction continued for 600 years, in several phases of landscaping: Burial mounds (most pointing east-to-west) and ceremonial pathways were added to the site. In 2400 B.C., the builders erected the large sandstone blocks which give the site its name. (Coined by Henry of Huntingdon, a twelfth-century English historian, “Stonehenge” means “hinged or supported stones.”) The means of moving those enormous standing stones has provoked centuries of speculation, with theories ranging from demonic powers to Merlin’s magic to alien technology. The reality is much more ordinary, says Hudson. “Much of the construction was little more than putting enough men under a stone to move it into place,” he notes, “although some basic engineering was required for the larger stones and the lintels.” One theory holds that the builders used simple inclines and levers to move the stones into place. Like the Egyptian pyramid-builders, the Stonehenge constructors relied more on brute labor than sophisticated technology. Though one of the most complete and monumental examples of Neolithic and Bronze Age construction, Stonehenge was not alone in its time. Hudson notes one estimate that places it among 300 surviving stone monuments throughout the British Isles—including the famous stone circle in Avebury. The connections between and among these sites often remain murky, and undoubtedly many creations of the Beaker Folk have returned to nature, leaving few traces of their existence. “Stonehenge forces us to reconsider the period of history that is not accompanied by written records,” Hudson says. Since the builders left no explanation, the precise purpose of their work remains obscure. One theory sees Stonehenge as a temple, pointing to the elaborate landscaping surrounding the site. More recently, historians and archaeologists have suggested it provided an observatory for either moon or sun cults. The Beaker Folk are believed to have been sun worshipers who aligned Stonehenge with certain important sun events, such as mid summer and winter solstices. While the absence of records makes it nearly impossible to be certain about Stonehenge’s purpose, the site itself does leave us with a portrait of Beaker Folk society. “The building of the monument required knowledge of civil engineering, transportation, and quarrying,” he says. “The society that constructed it was wealthy enough to afford such an expensive venture and it also had a developed theology that provided the guidance for the designs whose meanings still elude us.” Perhaps it is that elusive meaning that has, for centuries, drawn people to Stonehenge, to sit and wonder among the silent stones.

Stonehenge News

We aim to make this the ultimate source of the latest Stonehenge news available on the web. This blog is updated almost daily and promises to deliver accurate 'up to date' information on new theories, new digs, solstice events, Druid gatherings, the new visitor centre, general megalithic links and some fun along the way. We welcome your input....
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Stonehenge Stone Circle

Mystery surrounds this 5,000 year old monument in the centre of the World Heritage Site. Visit this prehistoric South West site near Salisbury in Wiltshire, and decide for yourself whether Stonehenge was a place of sun worship, a healing sanctuary, a sacred burial site, or something different altogether!

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